F.A.Q. - Vue 10 xStream

Yes, you can. Just remember that while you can open Vue 9 / Vue 8 scenes in Vue 10, you will not be able to open Vue 10 scenes in Vue 9 / Vue 8. However, this is not possible with xStream plugins: when you install the Vue 10 xStream plugins, previous versions of the plugins are automatically uninstalled.

To improve overall consistency, we have changed some parts of the internal code in the material and function editors (such changes occurred between Vue 8.5 and Vue 9). Because of these modifications, some compatibility problems may happen (in very particular scenarios) when loading in Vue 10 a material that was created in a previous version of Vue.

Unfortunately, this compatibility problem cannot be fixed automatically since it depends on the context such material or function is used.

However, you can easily fix it manually by following the below process:

If the material has a standard mapping (object or world) and if it has one or several "projected texture node" and an automatic projection mode, then you must multiply the scale parameter with a coefficient depending on the object which will receive the material (if the material is applied on several objects, you must duplicate the material and repeat the operation for each object).

This coefficient is:

• For spheres, tores and metaballs -> nothing to do
• For cylinders and cones -> X = 1, Y = 22.5
• For cubes, plans, pyramids, terrains, mesh without UV, rocks and plants: X = 22.5, Y = 22.5

In order to ensure compatibility with Vue 8, Vue 8.5, Vue 9 and Vue 9.5 native scenes and setups, the plugin files and folders are still called Vue7xStream in Vue 10 xStream for LightWave. If you already had Vue 8 / Vue 9 installed on your computer, the new plugin replaced your old Vue 8 / Vue 9 plugin. If you want to work with Vue 8 / Vue 9, you have to uninstall the Vue 10 plugin, using the xStream plugins uninstall program. Please refer to page 637 of the Reference Manual to know more about Versioning.

If the xStream 9.0/9.5 (or 8.0/8.5) menus have been loaded in LightWave, it can happen that you can't load the xStream 10 menus correctly.
Before adding the Vue 10 menu, you must remove the xStream menu from any previous version:

• In LightWave, open the "Configure Menus" dialog, using the command "Edit > Edit Menu Layout".
• In the list of menus (on the right), select Vue 9 xStream and press the "Delete" button.
• Close LightWave and reopen it. Now you can add the Vue 10 xStream menu.

For xStream to be compatible with exposure control in Mental Ray, you should always check the option "Process Background and Environment Maps" in 3DS Max Environment options (available from menu Rendering > Environment..., in Max, in the Exposure Control options).

In order to use DBR with mentalray, you need to dissociate the Vue "scene file" from the main scene file, and copy it on each satellite (to a similar location on all of the nodes). To dissociate the Vue scene from the main host file, go to xStream options (menu [xStream > Files > Options...]) and untick the option "Incorporate Vue scene in 3DS Max scene file". Close the Options dialog. You will have to choose a path for your Vue scene. Once this is done, save the 3DS Max scene too, and copy the .vue file you have just chosen to all nodes before starting the DBR render.

Additional note:
you should NOT save the Vue scene to the desktop or "My Documents" directory, as the corresponding absolute path would depend on current user account and OS - for instance, if you save your scene on such a place under Vista/Windows 7, xStream would not be able to find the matching scene on Windows XP, because those places are interpreted differently ; instead, choose a basic path such as C:/xStream_scenes/my_scene_001.vue

Indeed, the conversion of animated Vue cameras into the host application through xStream does not take all parameters into account (it ignores focal, for instance). It will be improved in a future version. By the way, in this particular case, this is not a problem: you should just use the original native camera instead!
The synchro plugin is useful if you need to work in Vue with a synchronized camera ; if you work in the host application with xStream, it is just useless, because xStream is directly synchronized with the active host camera.
Actually, if you reimport this kind of vue scenes with animated cameras, it will add a lot of keyframes to match the Vue animation so it is not recommended.

This is a known bug in Maya. From the Release Notes of Maya 2010, a workaround is listed:
Edit the scripts/others/loadNewShelf.mel script and remove the following line:
eval($proc);
(this is taken directly from the maya 2010 release notes PDF, which you can download here:
http://images.autodesk.com/adsk/files/maya2010releasenotes00.pdf)

Restoring default preferences can be useful in the following cases:

• You're not happy with the settings you set and would like to quickly restore the default ones.
• Your installation got corrupted and the application refuses to work.
• You want to reinstall the application, starting from a clean setup.

• WinXP: C:\Documents and Settings\UserName\Application Data\e-on software\Vue 10 xStream
• Vista / Win 7: C:\Users\UserName\AppData\Romaing\e-on software\Vue 10 xStream
• MacOSX: /Users/UserName/Library/Application Support/e-on software/Vue 10 xStream

For xStream to calculate multipass correctly withing Mental Ray or V-Ray, the minimum sampling level should be at 0 or higher (in the Raytrace/scanline quality, in MR / VR's Anti-Aliasing options). If the value is lower than 0, Mental Ray will render only 1 pixel out of 4/8/16 etc., which will not allow xStream to generate a complete MultiPass / G-Buffer.

This is a known limitation of xStream integration plug-ins, which cannot be fixed for now, because it is tightly linked to the way the native renderers communicate with the xStream renderer.

The xStream plugins are considered by the host application as volumetric plugins. Some volumetric plugins are sometimes incompatible when used together (such as xStream plugins and some fur tools for Cinema 4D for instance) resulting in strange artefacts in your renders. If you intend to use several volumetric plugins in your workflow, we recommend that you try the Vue xStream PLE to make sure your current setup will be compatible.

A bug in the release version of 3ds Max 2009 makes the application instable when the scene becomes complex, especially in terms of viewport rendering. Because xStream scenes use a lot of geometry, textures, etc. 3ds Max becomes much instable when doing simple things like panning the view. This bug has been fixed in 3ds Max 2009 SP1, so it is highly suggested to install this service pack before installing Vue 10 xStream.

When installing a service pack for 3ds Max, the configuration files for mental ray may be reset. These files normally contain information to register the xStream shader in mental ray. In order to resotre this information, you need to reinstall the plugin using the xStream plugins installer found on the cd, or the whole application. Applying an update won't restore this information.

This is a known bug in Vue 10 xStream for Maya (which will be fixed in a future version). In Vue 10 xStream for Maya, you should NEVER RENAME Vue objects from Maya interface

If V-Ray is already loaded and selected as the active renderer when you're loading/creating the Vue scene in Maya, then xStream will setup the connection between the xStream shader and V-Ray. If V-Ray has not yet been loaded and selected as the active renderer, this connection is made when first rendering your Vue scene with V-Ray, but the changes occur only after the end of the render. So, if you're rendering again your scene, it should render correctly this time. It is therefore suggested to load and configure V-Ray before creating the Vue scene, so that you won't experience any black render.

In order to allow the edition of large scenes, typically landscapes, the xStream plug-in changes the viewport and grid settings of the Maya scene. In some cases, especially if Maya is not exited normally (either killed by user or a crash occured), the default values are not restored, and these modified values will be used by Maya as default values. You can restore original values by deleting your Maya preference files, which are located in your user folder (please refer to Maya documentation to know the exact location depending on the version of Maya and your operating system). A menu entry has been added to Vue xStream to allow you to restore these settings without the need to delete all your preferences. This menu entry can be found in the xStream menu: Maya UI|Restore grid and viewports.

In order to properly duplicate a Vue proxy object, you need to use the commands from the xStream menu (Vue10xStream|Edit|Cut, Vue10xStream|Edit|Copy, Vue10xStream|Edit|Paste or Vue10xStream|Edit|Duplicate).
Explanation: if you use the host application commands (by using the host application's own menus, or by simply pressing the copy/paste shortcut keys), the newly created object will be a regular native object, it won't be managed by Vue or present in the Vue scene. So, Vue won't render it. So why does the native renderer ignore it as well? Proxy objects have a ignore from render flag enabled (to avoid both renderers from rendering it) which is copied into the duplicate object, which explains why this object is also ignored from native renderer.

In Maya and Softimage, by default, camera motion blur in mental ray is not computed using raytracing, but using scanline (to speed up rendering). This is not compatible with xStream so you need to make sure the motion blur is computed by mental ray's raytracing engine. In Maya, open the mental ray render options dialog, and in the "rendering features" section, select "Raytracing" instead of "Scanline" or "Rasterizer". In Softimage, in the Render Manager dialog, in the "Rendering" tab of mental ray settings, select "Raytracing" as the Type of Primary Rays. In 3ds Max, scanline is automatically disabled by the xStream plug-in.

The file to rename is located here (path is given for Maya 2008):
/Applications/Autodesk/maya2008/Maya.app/Contents/mentalray/lib/Vue6xStream.so
In order to go inside the Maya.app folder, you should Ctrl+click on the Maya application and do "show package contents".
If it doesn't work, you can open a terminal (from Applications/Utilities), and type the following on a single line: ('$>' is the promp, don't type it)

If there is a problem with permissions (ie. an error tells you "permission denied") you should type the above command with sudo at the beginning of the line (just before the mv). You will be asked to enter your MacOSX administrator password.

Vue 10 xStream is compatible with LightWave 9.6. Actually, the same version of the plug-in can be used in either LightWave 9.5 and LightWave 9.6.
But one problem you can get is trying to load the plug-in for LightWave 9.3 in LightWave 9.6. It will result in the following message being displayed: "This plugin version was not compiled for this product version. Please make sure that you use the correct version of the plugin." The plug-in indeed checks the version of LightWave to be sure you use the correct version (LightWave 9.5 introduced new features in the SDK, as well as better OpenGL display, so we want to be sure you use the correct version).

The first possible origin of this problem is that during the installation of Vue 10 xStream, you selected the wrong version (under the LightWave 9.3 plug-in you pointed the installer to LightWave 9.6). If it's the case, make sure you reinstall the Vue 10 xStream application and select the right paths.

Another possible cause is that you use the same LightWave configuration file for all your versions of LightWave. When you will add Vue 10 xStream plug-in to LightWave (through "Add Plugin" in the interface), LightWave will write the path to the plug-in in its configuration file. If all your versions of LightWave use the same configuration file, then all versions will try to use the same plug-in file, resulting in the error mentionned above.
If you're just double-clicking on the LightWave shortcut in the Start menu, or launching lightwav.exe file to start LightWave, you're actually not specifying a configuration file and all versions of Lightwave will use the same file.
In order to make sure different versions of LightWave use different configuration files, you have to create a shortcut to the lightwav.exe file, and add the following parameter: -c[PATH_TO_THE_CONFIG_FILE]

For instance, if you have LightWave 9.3 and LightWave 9.6 installed on Windows:

You should create a shortcut for LightWave 9.3, with the following command:
"c:\Program Files\Newtek\LightWave 9.3\Programs\lightwav.exe" -cC:\Users\MyUserName\LWEXT93_32.CFG

You should create a shortcut for LightWave 9.6, with the following command:
"c:\Program Files\Newtek\LightWave 9.6\Programs\lightwav.exe" -cC:\Users\MyUserName\LWEXT96_32.CFG

Only applications listed in the Requirements page of the Vue 10 xStream product will be able to load the integration plug-in. If your application is older than the ones listed in the Requirements page, the plug-in won't work. If your host application was released after the release of Vue 10 xStream (and before a newer version of Vue is released), you can find a Plugins Installer in the latest update's download page, which will let you install the plug-in for all versions, including new ones.
If your application is supported but you still can't find the plug-in, please make sure you follow the installation instructions detailed in the Vue 10 Reference Manual (pp. 563-565, especially the Adding the xStream menu section).

The E-on License Server is a specific application that you can use to hand out Vue Licenses on Demand. It will turn any Vue license into a floating one. It is usually used in multi-user environments. Example: You are running a studio with 8 computers on a network. There are two artists who use Vue, but they need to access it from any one of the 8 computers. With 2 Vue licenses added to the E-onLicense Server, these artists will be able to run Vue on any two computers at the same time.

Yes, you will simply need to activate the license for your laptop as well.
Note: It is your responsibility to ensure that you comply with the terms of the EULA (in particular, that you only run one instance of the program at any given time, and that you do not activate the program on multiple computers operating at the same location).

Yes, you can purchase the downloadable version of Vue 10 xStream from our online store.

When you complete your order of Vue 10 xStream, you will receive a link to a Vue 10 xStream downloader. Simply double-click on this downloader application to download the Vue 10 xStream CD. The content of the Vue 10 xStream CD will be saved at the location of your choice. You can burn this folder to CD for backup. Launch the installer application to complete the installation of Vue 10 xStream.

If the computer running Vue is not connected to the internet, but you have access to the internet otherwise, please visit the following page: https://secure.e-onsoftware.com/register/vue10xstream. If you already have an account with e-on software and your account information isn't automatically located, log into your account manually. Fill-out the registration form. Don't forget to enter your installation code into the appropriate field (the number that starts with "INST-"). Press "Activate", wait while your activation code is generated, then copy the activation code into the Activation dialog of the computer running Vue and press "Finalize activation".
If you absolutely have no Internet access, contact one of our sales reps by phone, fax or mail with the required information, and he will send you your activation key

For security reasons, Vista / Win 7 prevents the access to system files. So your activation code is not stored in the system from the start. The only solution to circumvent this, is to right click on the Vue icon and select "Run as admin". The aplication will ask you once again for your Activation code, but will store it in the system files and will not ask for it afterwards. This procedure has to be done only once. After that you can simply launch Vue by double clicking on the Icon as usual.

Just re-install Vue and repeat the activation process, if needed.

There is no limit to the number of times you can activate a product for the same system (e.g. after reinstalling the product, replacing your operating system, or recovering from a hard drive crash - see above). However, there is a reasonable limit to the number of different systems for which you can activate a product.
If you exceed the maximum number of activations for a given product, you will have to get in touch with our support staff for further activations.

Yes, you an install and run Vue without acivating it. The program wil operate normally, but images will be rendered with a watermark, and the files you create will only be readable on your system.
These limitations will disappear once you activate the product.

No, Vue 10 xStream is only available in English.

Both Macintosh and Windows systems requirements are available at this page.

Yes, you can import static and animated Poser content directly in Vue 10 xStream, including dynamic hair and cloth!

Yes, Vue 10 xStream is compatible with Poser 8 and Poser Pro 2010. Be sure to point to the directory that the Poser.exe file is located in the Vue Options panel, General Options tab, and select the Configure Poser Import button. Vue 10 xStream ships with 3 different Poser SDKs to choose from. Please read this page for more information.

Please switch off External Binary Morph Target support on the Misc tab of the General Preferences dialog (CTRL/CMD+K) in Poser before saving your PZ3/PZZ for import into Vue.

The plant format has changed significantly. You need to obtain new versions of the plants from Cornucopia3D.com. Please contact support@cornucopia3d.com with your plant keys and the serial number of the product for which you purchased them. The corresponding plants will be added to your Cornucopia3D account so that you can download them. Contact support@cornucopia3d.com for any further questions.

Yes. You can use any Max/Maya/LightWave/Cinema 4D/Softimage distributed network rendering solution (such as Backburner).

You need to purchase a separate license for each render node. You can either use full blown licenses, or the cheaper "Vue 10 xStream Render Node" network-render-only licenses.

Yes. On both Windows and Macintosh.

If you're using a NVIDIA video board, you should select the Span option instead of the Dualview one, or else your target application may behave incorrectly (not possible to select native objects anymore, for instance). If you're getting a problem not fixed by this solution, you should first try to disable the dual-screen and see if the problem persists. If the problem is indeed caused by the dual-screen mode, you should update your drivers to the latest version available before contacting our technical support.

Yes. When final gather is on, MR uses the Vue atmosphere as a skylight. The color and intensity of the skylight is further affected by the Vue GI settings. This ensures a perfect match between the Vue environment and the indirect lighting. However, xStream gives you the option to disconnect MR from the Vue GI settings, if you wish to control them separately.

The rendering of Vue elements in Max/Maya/LightWave/Cinema 4D/Softimage is done by the same render engine as Vue 10 Infinite/xStream core, which is designed to handle huge polygon counts. Therefore, render times will be the same as in Vue 10 Infinite/xStream standalone application.

Vue haze and fog settings (including altitude-dependent fog) are part of the xStream environment shader, so they equally affect both Vue and native elements.

Yes. Any native lights can optionally affect the Vue elements. Area lights are converted to Vue point lights.

In automatic mode, the Vue render quality is linked to the native renderer settings. In manual mode, Vue render settings are independent.

No. Vue 10 xStream includes all the tools available in Vue 10 Infinite. When running in standalone mode, Vue 10 xStream behaves exactly like Vue 10 Infinite. The only difference between xStream and Infinite is that, on top of the standalone mode, xStream also lets you integrate your environments inside other 3D applications, whereas Infinite only operates as a standalone application.

Yes. Since the Vue camera and sunlight are converted into their native counterparts, they can be moved and animated just like any native Max/Maya/LightWave/Cinema 4D camera and light.

Motion blur settings in Max/Maya/LightWave/Cinema 4D/XSI will also affect Vue elements. Motion blur is equally applied to all the elements in the scene. You can disable motion blur for the Vue scene, as you would for any native object. Post-processed motion blur effects and Vue 2.5 motion blur cannot be used with xStream.

You can export any Max/Maya/LightWave/Cinema 4D/XSI object or scene to Vue as reference guides, and delete these objects once you combine the scenes with xStream.

In order to get a floating point output, you should first select a compatible format in the target application renderer: HDR and EXR are two formats that allow such output. Then, you should open the xStream options dialog and uncheck the "Apply Vue's Post Processing filters" so that the "natural film response" filter won't be applied. If it's enabled, a logarithmic filter is applied to the output, which will make you think your output is clamped to 1.0.

It's possible to launch them from the Vue interface to edit the scene (add objects, etc.). But Python render callbacks are not supported while rendering with the target application (using the software renderer or MentalRay), so you should not add a render callback unless you only render from the Vue interface.

Poser features that are supported in Vue 10 via a "connection" to Poser (e.g. animated figures, dynamic hair and cloth, Poser shader tree rendering, re-posing) cannot be loaded into Max/Maya/LightWave/Cinema 4D.

All you need to do is use the Vue 10 xStream menu, and select the "Maya UI|Load xStream shelf".

When Vue 10 xStream launches for the first time, it checks your hardware (especially the video board) against a qualified hardware list. If you get this type of message, it does not mean your video board won't work with Vue and OpenGL. It only means that the board/driver you are using is not on our qualified hardware list. However, if you experience OpenGL crashes, you should disable OpenGL.

Yes. For more information, please check this full feature list.

Yes, all technologies from 3DImport, RenderUP, KronosFX, Exporter, AdvancedGraph, Zephyr, EcoPainter, Botanica, LightTune, DeepAccess, EcoSystems, Hypervue are included directly in the application. You won't need to buy them separately.

No, it isn't lost! All you need to do is re-download your license-locked content from Cornucopia3D. Because we understand that it may be a hassle to re-download each license-locked item individually, you are able to automatically download and install all of your license-locked items in one go. On the Cornucopia3D website, go to My Account and select Show Purchases. Scroll to the bottom of your account page and select Download all license-locked items.

Connect to your account and click on the "Retrieve Serial" link alongside the product registration information. If you purchased a download version, you can also access your serial number by clicking on the corresponding order in the order summary. For security reasons, we do not show serial numbers online. Serial numbers will be sent to you by e-mail.

It might be related to conflicts with other Cinema4D plugins: Planet X Generator, for instance is not compatible with xStream.

The latest nVidia drivers may not be compatible with old build numbers or older versions of Vue. However, you can correct this issue easily by downloading this file and unzipping it in your Application folder (by default, in your program files directory /e-on software/Vue [version]/Application/).